Tuesday, July 31, 2012

I became very close to my mother, as my father showed no interest in me.

My mother died at an early age from cancer.

Although my father deserted me and my mother raised me, I later wrote a book idolizing my father, not my mother.

Later in life, questions arose over my real name.

My birth records were sketchy.

No one was able to produce a legitimate, reliable birth certificate.

I grew up practicing one faith but converted to Christianity, as it was widely accepted in my new country, but I practiced non-traditional beliefs and didn't follow Christianity, except in the public eye under scrutiny.

I worked and lived among lower-class people as a young adult, disguising myself as someone who really cared about them.

That was before I decided it was time to get serious about my life and embarked on a new career.

I wrote a book about my struggles growing up.

It was clear to those who read my memoirs, that I had difficulties accepting that my father abandoned me as a child.

I became active in local politics in my 30s. Then, with help behind the scenes, I literally burst onto the scene as a candidate for national office in my 40s.

They said I had a golden tongue and could talk anyone into anything.

I had a virtually non-existent resume, little work history and no experience in leading a single organization.

Yet I was a powerful speaker, and citizens were drawn to me as though I were a magnet and they were small roofing tacks.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Only in America could politicians talk about the greed of the rich during a $35,000 a plate campaign fund raising event.

Only in America could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when we have a black President, a black Attorney General, and roughly 18% of the federal workforce is black. 12% of the population is black.

Only in America could we have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner, the head of the Treasury Department and Charles Rangel who once ran the Ways and Means Committee, BOTH turn out to be tax cheats, who are . . . wait for it . . . both in favor of HIGHER TAXES.

Only in America can we have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.

Only in America would we make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay thousands of dollars for the privilege while we discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just 'magically' become American citizens.

Only in America could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country's Constitution be thought of as "extremists."

Only in America could you need to present a driver's license to cash a check or buy alcohol, but not to vote.

Only in America could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. oil company is less than half of a company making tennis shoes (Nike).

Only in America could the government collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a trillion dollars more than it has per year for total spending of $7 million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn't have nearly enough money.

Only in America could the rich people who pay 86% of all income taxes be accused of not paying their "fair share" by the more than half the people who don't pay any income taxes at all.

Instead we got horror. We saw the face of international terrorism, and an atrocity against humankind unfold before our very eyes.

We could barely comprehend what we were looking at. It was to the 1970s what 9/11 was to the 00's - a game-changer.

One thing we could understand, at that moment and throughout the rest of that tumoltuos decade of terrorist attacks and aircraft hijackings; even though they outnumber them a thousand-to-one, the haters of Israel could not defeat her on the battlefield. And so they turned to a captive pool of recruits - the Palestinians - to deliver cowardly attacks against unarmed noncombatants.

It was as disgraceful a tactic of war then as it is now. That the International Olympic Committee deliberately chose not to honor the memory of the Munich 11 is tantamount to siding with the terrorists.

The bathroom has many purposes and should be one of the most important rooms on the list when considering a home improvement project. Bathroom home improvement can be so over looked by many people as they simply do not understand how much value can be added to your home with some well thought out bathroom home improvement plans.

This article will look at the little things that can make a big difference in your bathroom home improvement project. If you think it will be too expensive to really add value to your home by spending more time on the bathroom you are wrong.

The first thing you could do to your bathroom to add value without spending allot of money is to add some decorative trim around the ceiling. This will give the room a nice look that you may not see in many homes. Trim can be much less expensive than redoing the entire wall with paint or wall paper.

You might be able to add some nice curtains around your mirror for very little cost to really give your bathroom home improvement project a classy look. This may be another idea that seems just a bit different, but again it is these types of simple touches that can add real value without costing you an arm and a leg to complete.

Paint your bathroom sink and give it a very classy look. You may want to consider painting some nice designs on your sink to give it a touch of class. You could visit some home improvement showrooms and see if they have any sink painting designs to go by. If you are unsuccessful at finding any examples you should be able to find some nice designs online.

You might want to check out your larger home improvement retailers and get some good ideas for a creative bathroom home improvement project. Usually the employees at the larger retailers are not as concerned about selling you expensive materials and will steer you in the right direction.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A citizen with a gun stopped a knife wielding man as he began stabbing people Thursday evening at the downtown Salt Lake City Smith's store.

Police say the suspect purchased a knife inside the store and then turned it into a weapon. Smith's employee Dorothy Espinoza says, "He pulled it out and stood outside the Smiths in the foyer. And just started stabbing people and yelling you killed my people. You killed my people."

Espinoza says, the knife wielding man seriously injured two people. "There is blood all over. One got stabbed in the stomach and got stabbed in the head and held his hands and got stabbed all over the arms."

Then, before the suspect could find another victim - a citizen with a gun stopped the madness. "A guy pulled gun on him and told him to drop his weapon or he would shoot him. So, he dropped his weapon and the people from Smith's grabbed him.

I'd have killed the worthless bastard, save the taxpayers the price of a trial and incarceration, but maybe that's just me.

- -STORMBRINGER SENDS

Friday, July 27, 2012

When I met this young man, Pepper was coming into the "Q" Course, I was on my way out of the Army and trying to figure out what to do with the next part of my life. Of course the joke was he was one half of the salt-and-pepper team, because his running partner was black. KIA'd on his first deployment as a Green Beret - Pepper is in Valhalla now.

“Respect”

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Pod Movers are starting to turn up everywhere to offer moving or storage pods to the American public. This new moving service is quickly making a great impression on families and individuals throughout the United States and changing the way people make moves and do remodeling projects. However, one challenge consumers have with this new market niche is how to sort out the good pod movers from the bad ones. With this thought in mind, we have put together a list of tips to help you find the best in portable on demand storage:

1. Shop around to find the best deals. Since there is so much competition in this industry, you can afford to shop around for better rates. There is no need to settle on one price until you have done some due diligence. We recommend you look for the best deal in terms of the service, price, and quality of the storage pods with each factor given an equal weight. In this way, you are more likely to be satisfied with your purchase. However, some consumers may want to adjust this ratio by putting more of an emphasis on one factor over another.

2. Look for quality pods and know your size requirements. It is very important to look at what each moving pod is made of. If you are planning on using the pod for storage purposes, go with the best quality ones you can find. Find ones that have a metal frame to them that will stand up to the wind, rain and other elements. This is mission critical if you are using the pod for home remodeling plans or home improvement ideas. Another factor to consider is to know if their pod sizes will accommodate your size requirements. This is usually a bigger issues with moves and since there are so many companies, you should be able to find a moving pod that fits your size needs. We recommend that you try to keep the number of moving pods to a minimum and if possible keep all your items in one larger pod. This makes it easier to protect your items and keep a better eye on them in transport.

3. Seek out those companies that offer quality customer service in your area. Although many of the pod movers are national companies, we have found that service can vary depending on the location. For this reason, it pays to do some research to see what the customers are saying about a certain company in your area. Consumers are great at giving others honest reviews of the service they received. Internet message boards and moving websites are ideal for getting this type of information for you.

4. The best companies will offer a number of extras and supplies. Various pod movers may offer other services, such as GPS tracking or even some insurance coverage. These are valuable add-ons that all consumers should be interested. In addition, you should check to see if the company sells or offers additional moving supplies. This should include items like moving blankets, furniture pads, dollys, ramps and other items. Although these items will not be as important for projects surrounding home remodeling plans or home improvement ideas, they are necessities for moves. If the company already provides some of these items, it will make your move go more smoothly.

By keeping all these tips in mind, you should be able to locate the best of the pod movers for your portable on demand storage needs. With just a little bit of focused research, you will be able to rest easy knowing you may the right decision.

Forgive me Team - I just got off the plane Sunday night and I'm still playing catch up. - S.L.

Political-hack-impersonating-a-journalist George Snuffalumpagus

The morning after the mass shooting in the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado during a screening of the new Batman movie, ABC News' Brian Ross and George Stephanopoulos suggested a Tea Party connection

This is right on cue with the LIberal script: the Left-Leaning Lamestream Media attempted to blame the Tea Party for the Tuscon shootings in January 2011, shortly after Republicans swept the midterm elections. Now, in the critical 2012 elections, the Lamestream atempts the same thing - with ABC News leading the way.

Really? Really? Is that the best you got? Pathetic.

Why Am I Not Surprised? Dept:

Looks like Aurora theater shooter guy may have have some associations with the Occupy Movement. Here's a link to the Denver Post

". . . Occupy Wall Street’s mainstream defenders are trying desperately to distance themselves from the “Black Bloc” anarchists who by now have grown to become one of the largest, if not the largest, group comprising the Occupy movement. Without the anarchist Occupiers (such as the ones shown here) the movement would quickly disintegrate from lack of participants.

The problem for Occupy’s apologists is that this major sector of the movement has transformed into a fascist street gang, and have no intention of “toning things down.” Anyone who thinks that they are substantially different from the Brown Shirts terrorizing Munich in the early ’20s is fooling themselves. Heck the SA logo is even almost identical to the Black Bloc’s logo . . ."

"That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

"In July 1996, the 14-year-old daughter of Robert Gay, a partner at Bain Capital, had disappeared," the story reads. "She had attended a rave party in New York City and gotten high on ecstasy. Three days later, her distraught father had no idea where she was. Romney took immediate action. He closed down the entire firm and asked all 30 partners and employees to fly to New York to help find Gay’s daughter. Romney set up a command center at the LaGuardia Marriott and hired a private detective firm to assist with the search. He established a toll-free number for tips, coordinating the effort with the NYPD, and went through his Rolodex and called everyone Bain did business with in New York and asked them to help find his friend’s missing daughter. Romney’s accountants at Price Waterhouse Cooper put up posters on street poles, while cashiers at a pharmacy owned by Bain put fliers in the bag of every shopper. Romney and the other Bain employees scoured every part of New York and talked with everyone they could – prostitutes, drug addicts – anyone.

"That day, their hunt made the evening news, which featured photos of the girl and the Bain employees searching for her. As a result, a teenage boy phoned in, asked if there was a reward, and then hung up abruptly. The NYPD traced the call to a home in New Jersey, where they found the girl in the basement, shivering and experiencing withdrawal symptoms from a massive ecstasy dose. Doctors later said the girl might not have survived another day. Romney’s former partner credits Mitt Romney with saving his daughter’s life, saying, ‘It was the most amazing thing, and I’ll never forget this to the day I die.’

"So, here’s my epiphany: Mitt Romney simply can’t help himself. He sees a problem, and his mind immediately sets to work solving it, sometimes consciously, and sometimes not-so-consciously. He doesn’t do it for self-aggrandizement or for personal gain. He does it because that’s just how he’s wired."

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

I have advanced training & experience in interview & interrogation skills, and I'm here to tell you this is an act, and I'll tell you why:

The perpetrators' demeanor is unnatural, almost as if he's in a trance, or a drug induced stupor. Well it's easy enough to determine whether or not he's under the influence of drugs, and he's not THAT glassy-eyed to be in a trance.

It is possible that he is overwhelmed with the enormity of what he has done - if this is the case his reaction is unique amongst mass-shooters we have seen in recent years. More likely Holmes is trying to evade responsibility for his actions. He's making a play for the insanity route, and that will be a hard sell, and I'll tell you why:

First of all, there was no way he could have acquired the tools, weapons, ammo and improvised explosives for his mass shooting / IED-laden apartment in a trance. Sure, this guy is an absolute sociopath but so are lots of criminals and the crazy route never worked for them either. Holme's plot required a lot of deliberate thought, planning and skills to engineer and pull off. This plot was not the work of a non compis mentis candidate.

The only way this ploy will work as a defense is if the judge lets him get away with it. I suggest that judge take control of his courtroom and call this idiot on his act - possibly use electronic surveillance of the suspect to challenge and confront his behavior. This case is too important to let this clown act hijack it for his own personal egomaniacal entertainment.

It's not letting me post pictures . . . as you all know Blog STORMBRINGER is driven by imagery so for today I'll paint you a word picture:

Paris, 21 July 2012

After paying my respects at Napoleon's Tomb, I inspected the incredible collection of arms in Les Invalides - which is the complex housing the cathedral in which Napoleon & several other heroes are entombed, the monument to all of France's military, and the home for Les Anciennes (disabled military veterans).

At the ticket counter I asked if there was a military discount (I always ask) and was told "only in uniform". Then I told the girl, "Mais, je suis un Ancienne," and showed her my blue ID card. Viola- instant multipass throughout the entire complex - gratis.

This is the third time I have received such treatment at the hands of the French. The first time was in a small Norman village - Ste Mere Eglise - where I was not allowed to pay for a drink for three days; the second time was at a cafe in the part of Paris where I hang out, when my credentials became known and dinner was on the house. The waiter pointed to the landlord and uttered one word: "Respect"

The collection at Les Invalides includes weapons from the Stone Age to the Space Age, suits of armor for almost every king of France, most notable Dukes and Marechals and a ton of ordinary knights. An impressive array of artifacts from the Napoleonic era - everything in remarkable condition and historical information was displayed in a logical and easy-to-digest format. I filled in the gaps of a lot of my knowledge of history, the Napoleonic era especially.

Yes, their record or recent times is ridden with scandal but there was an epoch when the French KICKED ASS all over Europe and all over the world. In fact, until an episode known as the Seven Years War (we know it as the French & Indian War) the French were THE Superpower in their day, and if it wasn't for the actions of a certain Captain George Washington (these acts would be called 'war crimes' in this day & age) we'd be having this conversation . . . in French!

Stereotypes aside, the French are an incredibly war-like race. They gave us the metric system, the five-paragraph op order format, the military mercador grid reference system, military time, modern artillery and the bayonet. Consider their activity post-WWII to this day; almost continual military adventuring. Compare this to the Germans, who despite their heroic reputation are the most effeminate race in modern Europe and the ONLY people THEY ever beat in a war are . . . the French!

At the height of recent Franco-U.S. angst, my personal boycott of all things French never extended to their women or their wines. Regarding their women, as a lifelong sufferer of "yellow fever" (there is no known cure) there is nothing hotter than a French-speaking Oriental and of course feminine shaving is not even a consideration - everybody knows that Oriental women are not only completely smooth, they are double- and triple- jointed and are raised from birth to service & pleasure the Alpha-male members of the warrior class.

Like my favorite half-American, Winston Churchill; I am a Francophile as well as an Anglophile. My open-mindedness does not extend to accordion music however - I nearly threw an accordian off a train the other day (WITH the Mime still attached).

Myself, it wasn't exactly For Whom the Bell Tolls when I went through my Channelling Ernest Hemingway moment but ... wandering around my little corner of Paris last night it occurred to me how -IF- I hadn't been married w/family; after military retirement I very well could've ended up here in Paris cooling my heels between gigs in the Sandpile and down south in the Dark Continent. The place IS restful and its quite possible to be a Big Fish in a small pond here.

"Vive la vie, et vive le guerre, et vive la vie de la mercenaire!"

STORMBRINGER SENDS

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Some places in a room demand that certain furniture or appliances be put in a certain spot. In a typical New York apartment, the stove can only be put in one place, because that’s where the gas line is. The kitchen table has to go into this other space, because this is the only space in the room that’s big enough for a kitchen table. But even the owner or renter of a small apartment has much leeway as to where they’d like the rest of their furniture to go.

Space and OrientationOne of the first things a homeowner should do is find out how much space they have. No matter how much they’ve fallen in love with that sectional, if the livingroom is too small for it, it’s not going to fit. Even if they have a hard copy of the official layout of their apartment, the homeowner should go around and measure everything with measuring tape, including windows, doors and built in furniture.

Then, the homeowner should determine the orientation of their house or apartment. Do the windows face north, east, south, or west? This is important to know when it comes to what colors or patterns the walls will be and where to put house plants. These will both influence the placement of furniture.

While the layout of a kitchen may not leave the homeowner too much choice, the layout of other rooms can strongly suggest where things go. A picture window might suggest that a sofa go there and that the coffee or tea table go in front of it and that the lamp tables go on each side. However, what seems logical may not be the best choice for the room.

TrafficTraffic lanes are routes people create as they walk in and out of and around a room. They’re usually not consciously made, but the homeowner would do well to take note of them. With traffic routes in mind, furniture shouldn’t be placed too close to narrow doorways because it should never be difficult for anyone to enter or leave a room. However, furniture can be arranged next to wide openings like double doors. Whatever the arrangement, space should always be allowed around furniture.

Conversation GroupsConversation groups, groups of chairs around a focal point, break up the space but still allow a natural flow of traffic. A large room has space for a few conversation groups. The main conversation group can focus on something like the fireplace. Two other conversation groups can be arranged around a lamp table, or a bank of windows. Even a small room can have more than one conversation group, though it may only have two instead of three.

A Rectangular RoomMost older buildings have a rectangular livingroom. Some of them only have a picture window at one of the short ends, which is unfortunate. A sofa can be put beneath this window, but since people like to walk up to a window and look out, another arrangement can be a lamp table flanked by two chairs. But if the view out of the window is as unfortunate as its placement, a sofa looking into the room might be better.

As for the two long walls, it may be best to put tall pieces of furniture there, like a bookcases, as tall pieces make long walls look proportional. It's also a good idea to keep the central space of a rectangular room as open as possible, so armchairs and tables should be put at the ends of the room or along the walls. If tables need to be brought out, they should be the type that can be folded up and stored.

An L-Shaped RoomThe homeowner should avoid bunching their furniture along the walls in an L-shaped room. There’s no conversation group and the room is simply not esthetically pleasing. At least one conversation area should be created, possibly between two windows and one wall should be hidden with bookshelves and entertainment center to make it look less long and more hospitable. This arrangement also allows traffic to flow more naturally through the room, as well.

Oh yeah, Pier? Well how come you liberals in the media never call for any kind of sanity checks or controls on Hollywood's glorification of violence? Everybody knows the pen is mightier than the sword, right? The talking heads of the Left-Leaning Lamestream Media who-never-had-an-original-thought-in-their-entire-lives never for a nano-second suggest we put a clamp on their sacred Freedom of Speech - Hollywood can pump all the filth and corruption it wants into the pliable minds of young people and thats all right. They never, ever look at Evil and question what inspired this madness.

Anyway, Piers - who the EFF asked YOU??? You're a foreigner - where the Hell do you get off suggesting we do a DAMN thing? I tell you what, Piers (what kind of name is that anyway?) if you don't like it here: LEAVE.

Evil Begets Evil

The Batman film franchise has glorified weirdness and evil since its first iteration, back in '89. Now they roll out this latest freak bad guy:

This is nothing less than propaganda to inspire would-be wannabe terrorist/criminal masterminds.

Unfortunately for Piers Morgan and all the rest of the liberals, we have this little thing in the United States called the Bill of Rights - which codifies our God-given right to arm arouselves against lunatics like this:

Dis-arming America will never work and anybody who's asking for it lives in a liberal fantasy land. All gun control will ever achieve is to dis-arm law-abiding citizens. Go ahead and call for this, Piers; in fact, we've got a national election going on - why don't we have Obama get out there and call for 100% gun control and the dis-arming of America? He'll never do it, and you know why? Because this would be a sure-fire way to hand the Presidency AND Congress over to the Republicans.

Does it ever occur to you bleeding heart media darlings that the single largest supplier of military-style assault weapons to North American organized crime is the Obama Justice Department? When challenged on this, Obama refuses to provide any paperwork that may state otherwise.

I've got a better idea - why don't we adopt the Israeli model? They have a country full of potential terrorists, surrounded by terrorists and enemies, and yet they don't have mass shootings. How come the media can never connect the dots on this? If every able-bodied male of military age was required by law to be armed and trained how to use firearms, I guarantee you this mass-shooting phenomenon would grind to a halt.

Another smirking idiot self-starter terrorist; an active-duty officer in the US Army, Hasan had 'Soldier of Allah' on his business card.

Major Hasan was able to wander into his workplace at Fort Hood, kill 13 people and wound 29 others - before the MPs could arrive at the scene and return fire. It may amaze the general public to learn that U.S. Army soldiers are not allowed to carry weapons around on base. This is not the case in Israel, where people carry at all times, on and off duty, and are trained in weapons safety and basic marksmanship.

A federal investigation alleged Enrique Prado's involvement in seven murders, yet he was in charge when America outsourced covert killing to a private company.

It was one of the biggest secrets of the post-9/11 era: soon after the attacks, President Bush gave the CIA permission to create a top secret assassination unit to find and kill Al Qaeda operatives. The program was kept from Congress for seven years. And when Leon Panetta told legislators about it in 2009, he revealed that the CIA had hired the private security firm Blackwater to help run it. "The move was historic," says Evan Wright, the two-time National Magazine Award-winning journalist who wrote Generation Kill. "It seems to have marked the first time the U.S. government outsourced a covert assassination service to private enterprise."

The quote is from his e-book How to Get Away With Murder in America, which goes on to note that "in the past, the CIA was subject to oversight, however tenuous, from the President and Congress," but that "President Bush's 2001 executive order severed this line by transferring to the CIA his unique authority to approve assassinations. By removing himself from the decision-making cycle, the president shielded himself -- and all elected authority -- from responsibility should a mission go wrong or be found illegal. When the CIA transferred the assassination unit to Blackwater, it continued the trend. CIA officers would no longer participate in the agency's most violent operations, or witness them. If it practiced any oversight at all, the CIA would rely on Blackwater's self-reporting about missions it conducted. Running operations through Blackwater gave the CIA the power to have people abducted, or killed, with no one in the government being exactly responsible." None of this is new information, though I imagine that many people reading this item are hearing about it for the first time.

I do not share the author's sense of outrage here. I'd like to go on the record here as saying I personally have no problem with this program; this is NOT the first time the United States Government has "outsourced" warfighting and killing to private contractors. Apparently this author has no sense of history, and is not aware of the privateer fleet of the years leading up to the War of 1812, the role of Jean Lafitte the Pirate in defeating the British Army at the Battle of New Orleans, or perhaps the fabled history of the Flying Tigers. Conflict is a constant of the human condition, war is fluid, and to even attempt to constrain ourselves to a set of rules when our enemies operate with impunity across the wide spectrum of war is nothing short of folly. War is simple, brutal and direct; Patton

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

Thursday, July 19, 2012

In the United States the non-citizens of prime military age (18-29) make up about 2.2 percent of the U.S. population, but 4 percent of military personnel. There are about 1.2 million non-citizens who are physically, mentally, and psychologically fit to serve in the military. These men and women are particularly attractive to the military because they tend to work harder, have fewer disciplinary problems, and often possess language skills and cultural knowledge that the military needs. But a major reason non-citizens are over-represented in the military is that it's an ancient tradition for a newcomer to gain membership in the tribe/kingdom/country via performing some dangerous service to gain acceptance.

In the last decade the U.S. military has enlisted some 70,000 non-citizens, about five percent of all recruits. The foreign recruits are tossed out during their first three months of service at half the rate of their citizen counterparts. After three years of service 72 percent of citizens were still in uniform, compared to 84 percent of non-citizen troops. The foreign troops are more patriotic and work harder than their citizen counterparts. Non-citizen troops have another incentive, as they can apply for citizenship sooner because of their military service. Any foreign recruit forced out for medical reasons (because of combat or non-combat injuries) can still obtain citizenship more quickly. Most foreign troops obtain citizenship as soon as they can while in the military because many jobs require a security clearance and only citizens can get one of those.

In the last decade some senior American officers urged the recruitment of more foreigners. Not just non-citizens with green cards but foreigners who are not residents of the United States. This brought forth protests from those opposed to, well, whatever. Historically, the American military has usually had more foreigners in the ranks than it does now. During the American Civil War about twenty percent of the Union Army was foreign born troops.

The Irish Brigade reporting for duty, Gettysburg July 1863

There were entire divisions of Irish, Germans, or Scandinavians. For the rest of the 20th century the all-volunteer military continued to have a higher (than today) percentage of foreigners. Recruiting foreigners enabled the army to get more enthusiastic and capable recruits. Naturally they would have to speak acceptable English, just as resident foreigners in the United States or citizens from Puerto Rico must. The American military pay and benefits are competitive with U.S. civilian occupations but to most foreigners these pay levels are astronomical. The risk is low, as only about one in a thousand foreign born volunteers died in Iraq or Afghanistan. All that and you get to become a citizen of the United States after your four year enlistment is up. The only question was which line would be longer at American embassies, the one for visas or the one for military recruiting?

The United States is not alone in this acceptance of foreigners in the military. Take, for example, Britain. Two centuries ago Nepalese Gurkhas were first recruited into the British Indian army and then the British army. After India became independent in 1947, they too recruited Gurkhas for Indian infantry units. But service in the British army was considered a better deal. Britain has long recruited foreigners into its army and navy because there has always been a shortage of British citizens willing to serve.

Then there is the French Foreign Legion, which is supposed to be nothing but foreigners (except for the officers). But many French join, claiming to be from the French speaking parts of Belgium. No matter, if otherwise qualified the "Belgians" are signed up. In Italy, the Vatican (a small part of Rome that is an independent country controlled by the Roman Catholic Church) gets most of its security forces from Catholic areas of Switzerland.

This is the Swiss Guard.

While the French Foreign Legion dates from the 19th century, the Swiss have been serving as foreign mercenaries since the 15th century. But these contingents disappeared as better economic opportunities developed in Switzerland and mercenaries became less popular. Many other nations have successfully used foreigners in their armed forces. Not mercenaries but foreigners willing and able to serve next to the native born. It still works.

During my time in the U.S. Army, I served beside soldiers from all over Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East - to include Israel, Iran and the Arab countries. Just like the mercenaries of Ancient Rome, we earned our citizenship through military service to the Empire.

When I enlisted in the United States Army I held Australian citizenship, and technically I still do. However after taking my Oath of United States citizenship in May, 1986, I never renewed my Australian passport on the premise that I felt obligated to my new country, the country subsequently served for twenty-five years.

I still consider myself an Australian by birth, of course, and it has been suggested that I renew my Australian passport. In fact I was recenetly informed that I may be eligible for British citizenship, on account of my father's nationality, and I am exploring the possibility of acquiring a British passport.

In my post-military life as a privateer, however, I see no conflict of interest in holding the papers of three nations; especially considering the close relationship that exists between the United States and the British Commonwealth. To me, this simply enhances my versatility as a professional private soldier. My primary loyalty is to the United States, of course.

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Many resorts see a huge number of tourists each year, which means lots of wear and tear on the rooms that lodge guests. Furniture which is used by resorts can wear out quickly, due to how many times it is used by many people. But, while you're on vacation, many people may let this slide because they are just happy to not have to clean up after themselves. For this reason, tourists may sit down on the furniture while donning a soaked swimming suit, walk over the carpet with wet or dirty feet, and so on. While you want your guest to have the time of their life as well as get some rest in, you still need to consider methods to keep the furniture looking new and welcoming for the people staying there.

A fantastic tip to follow when you are deciding on furniture for the suites in the resort is usually to be sure that the seats of the room equal the amount of people that are going to be staying in that room. For instance, if a room has enough sleeping space to allow for eight people, the living room should have enough seating to comfortably accommodate eight people. The fabrics or materials which you use in the main living room area will need to be very durable and have a higher quality, so be sure you research your options. Often, you can find fabrics that are stain resistant. This can be a appealing factor because food is often eaten within these common areas. These fabrics will not have any reaction to the chlorine, and therefore they may not fade as quickly in the event the guest sits on the piece of furniture with their wet swimming suits. These fabrics can be a bit more pricey, but in the long run, it can save you money and will give your furniture a longer life span. In addition, many of these fabrics are available in bright, vibrant colors which are inviting to vacationing guests.

In the kitchen area, you will need to monitor traffic patterns. Where does the most traffic occur? Will there be plenty of room around the table for your guest to get up without feeling crowded? When you have a smaller unit, you can always place barstools at the kitchen counter to create more eating space. But, as previously mentioned, make sure there are equal spots to sit for the number of individuals vacationing in the room. Numerous resorts may want to go with a fancier design on the table and chairs but that's not necessarily the greatest idea and you may want to reconsider doing this. The explanation for this is because food and sticky substances can get stuck within the grooves and will turn your dining furniture into a sticky eyesore. You'll want to make the space as beautiful and inviting for the guests, so that they feel at ease in the space and will enjoy spending time in the area.

It's important to keep the furniture basic so they don't feel so crowded and may enjoy themselves. Many people, may wish to actually keep their belongings in the suitcase instead of transferring their things into the furniture that is provided. To eliminate unnecessary clutter, make your furniture in each bedroom basic and natural looking.

By following these tips, you will keep your resort furniture fresh and welcoming to each and every single guest that stays in your rooms. The standard life expectancy for the furniture which is used more often is every 5-7 years. This will offer you furniture that is not stained, faded and worn, rather your resort is going to be filled with bright, appealing, and comfortable furniture for all your guests to appreciate.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Arguing with liberals is like playing chess with a flock of pigeons; no matter how good I am at chess, the pigeons are just going to knock over all the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like they are victorious . . .

Monday, July 16, 2012

Jon - the father of the after suffering a pulmonary embolism. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer and was surrounded by his family at the London Clinic.

Lord founded Deep Purple in 1968, and along with drummer Ian Paice was a constant in the band during their existence from 1968 to 1976. He co-wrote many of the band's ballads, including the seminal 'Smoke On The Water' and was responsible for the legendary organ riff on 'Child In Time'.

He remained with the band when they reformed in 1984, until his retirement in 2002.

A statement on his website reads simply: "Jon passes from Darkness to Light".

"Jon was surrounded by his loving family," the statement added.

I worshipped this band . . . their legendary ballads inspire me in my warrior exploits to this day . . . they are the original Iron Vikings from Hell heavy metal rock band . . . today my heart is sad . . .

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Yesterday I stood in front of a glass case at the Imperial War Museum here in London and looked at this famous Brough S100 motorcyle - one of many owned by T.E. Lawrence - of Arabia fame - in fact this is the bike he was riding the day he was killed in an accident. Britain lost a great soldier the day T.E. was run off the road.

No I am not in town for the Olympics, it's just a pitstop enroute to bigger and better things.

The Imperial War Museum has an incredible collection of artifacts from the First World War onward - to include interesting displays with video presentations of Secret War - Mi5, Mi6 and the Special Forces, a very intense Holocaust section with an exhaustive presentation of how the Nazis arrived at the Final Solution, and a though-provoking film on the phenomenon of genocide. It is pointed out that of the millions who died in the First World War, only 10% of those were civilians; yet by the end of the 20th century, that proportion of war casualties had reversed.

There was a good study of the Blitz which includes a huge map detailing the German bombing damage to South London (where I stay when I am in town) to include the V-1 & V-2 rocket strikes of later in the war. I have often looked at the city blocks around here and tried to imagine what it was like, the destruction.

Walking through the streets of London, one sees row upon row of older type buildings (above) interspersed with modern cube-like construction (below) - I imagine after the war they were being thrown up as rapidly as possible, to clean up the terrible aftermath of destruction.

Building a home can be one of the most exciting, yet costly projects that you ever do. You can finally build your dream home, but if you are not careful, you might get slammed with various large hidden costs which will create even more devastating effects. The last thing you want is to start building this dream home only to be stuck with a half built home because you did not have the hidden costs in mind. When you plan out your home you should always be rounding up and expect to pay at least a third of the total cost more.

Building your own home can be a great financial investment but you have to consider all of the factors before you make this commitment. Some of the extra costs that you can encounter include legal fees, materials and even extra labour. Below you will find some of the common hidden charges that are associated with building a home:

• Many people borrow money in order to build their dream home, but these funds have costly finance fees that are attached to them. Some of the more common fees which you will be paying are lender’s survey and valuation fees which can be up to $1000. You will also have to pay for inspections in order for mortgage payments to be released which can be almost $100 per visit.

• Don’t forget about your broker. The person who arranges your mortgage will also benefit from you as you must pay for their services.

• Arrangement fees are also common if you are using a fixed rate. Arrangement fees are also very common when you want the stage payments in advance. The only upside to the arrangement fee which can be around $1200 or less, is the fact that you will not have to pay for the interim inspection fees.

• Another large fee that you should not forget about is your surveyor’s and engineer’s fee. Before work can be done, the plot of land must be inspected by a site surveyor which will cost between $600 and $1000. Archaeological surveys will also cost you around $5000. If there is a problem with the land, expect delays and costs to come with these delays.

• Legal fees can be quite costly, at least $2000 for buying a plot and selling your home. When you purchase the property you will have to pay stamp duty and then register it which will have additional fees.

Building your home can be a dream come true but if you do not take into consideration the additional costs, it could soon turn into a nightmare. Other cost considerations are architecture fees, scaffolding and plant hiring fees, delivery charges and costs associated with connecting sewage lines.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if...A Muslim officer crying "Allah Akbar" while shooting up an army base is considered to have committed "Workplace Violence" while an American citizen boasting a Ron Paul bumper sticker is classified as a "Domestic Terrorist".

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....You can get arrested for expired tags on your car but not for being in the country illegally.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....Your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more of our money.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....A seven year old boy can be thrown out of school for calling his teacher "cute" but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....The Supreme Court of the United States can rule that lower courts cannot display the 10 Commandments in their courtroom, while sitting in front of a display of the 10 Commandments.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....Children are forcibly removed from parents who appropriately discipline them while children of "underprivileged" drug addicts are left to rot in filth infested cesspools.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....Working class Americans pay for their own health care (and the health care of everyone else) while unmarried women are free to have child after child on the "State's" dime while never being held responsible for their own choices.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....Hard work and success are rewarded with higher taxes and government intrusion, while slothful, lazy behavior is rewarded with EBT cards, WIC checks, Medicaid and subsidized housing.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....The government's plan for getting people back to work is to provide 99 weeks of unemployment checks (to not work).

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....Being self-sufficient is considered a threat to the government.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....Politicians think that stripping away the amendments to the constitution is really protecting the rights of the people.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....The rights of the Government come before the rights of the individual.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....Parents believe the State is responsible for providing for their children.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....You can write a post like this just by reading the news headlines.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....You pay your mortgage faithfully, denying yourself the newest big screen TV while your neighbor defaults on his mortgage (while buying iphones, TV's and new cars) and the government forgives his debt and reduces his mortgage (with your tax dollars).

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....Your government can add anything they want to your kid's water (fluoride, chlorine, etc.) but you are not allowed to give them raw milk.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....Being stripped of the ability to defend yourself makes you "safe".

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....You have to have your parents signature to go on a school field trip but not to get an abortion.

You know you live in an Upside-down Land if....An 80 year old woman can be stripped searched by the TSA but a Muslim woman in a burqa is only subject to having her neck and head searched.

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU JUST READ WHEN YOU VOTE ! ! !

STORMBRINGER SENDS

Friday, July 13, 2012

The key word here is SURVIVAL. Most people think you need a .30 cal hunting rifle or a shotgun with a slug barrel to bag an elk or a kodiak bear. This is actually a flawed thought process- the start point is to develop a proper survival mindset. All you actually need to survive in any environment is your mind, but for the purposes of this exercise we're going to drop you out there in the Alaskan wilderness with a razor sharp hunting knife and a bag of salt.

That's it - just a hunting knife and a bag of salt. Nothing else - not even rucksack, canteen, sleeping bag, boots, clothes, nothing. All that's stuff's a crutch, and besides, with the hunting knife you can make anything you need.

The first logical step is to get some leaves to cover yourself so your junk isn't out there swinging in the breeze - I mean, you don't want people laughing at you while you go about the serious business of surviving. Leaves will have to cut it for now, but of course you're going to need animal skins - preferably with fur - and you're going to need them fast because it gets cold in Alaska, even in the summertime.

To take an elk, use the knife to fashion a six foot staff and use cordage to bind the hunting knife to the staff as a speartip. Then, you lay out your bag of salt as a deerlick to attract elk. When elk come, you jump out and spear one. If they all bolt, you give chase. We humans, with sweat glands, have built-in cooling and as such we can run continually without tiring. Deer or elk on the other hand will overheat, eventually they will tire, lay down for a rest and probably have a heart attack. At that time you can jump out and let them have it and finish them off with your spear.

H-e-e-e-y all we're talking about here is Bambi, right?

Then you take the salt and use it with the brains of the animal to tan the hide. First order of business is to fashion a loincloth for yourself, and some rudimentary moccasins. Also use the leather to create thongs for your woman - put these aside you will use them later.

In the meantime, refresh yourself on some tasty elk steaks; you'll need your strength for the next part. You may consider rubbing urine from the elk's bladder or musk glands all over your body to mask your scent, because next we're going bear hunting. The urine and the musk glands have the dual purpose of making you irrisitable to women, which is good because you're going to require maximum charisma annd extraordinary powers of persuasion to get your woman to cooperate for this next phase:

Using the spear/knife as a digging stick, dig a DEEP pit - about 10'x10'x20' deep at least. Cover the pit with twigs and leaves. Now you're going to need some kodiak bear bait - salt won't cut it; this is going to take some teamwork. Wait until your woman is having her monthly time, then use the leather thongs to tie her spreadeagled over the leaves. She will have to be naked of course, this goes without saying. Then go hide behind a tree or a rock or something and wait. When the kodiak comes sniffing around because he smells that fresh ripe red snapper and he goes for it, he's going to fall through the leaves and the fall will probably knock him out.

How hard can it be? I mean, we're talking about a relative of the Koala bear, right?

The rest is easy; you drop down onto the kodiak bear from above and let him have it with your knife. If during this critical phase you drop the knife no problem; when the bear does that huge roar thing, you shove your entire arm ALL THE WAY DOWN the animals throat, reach all the way down and grab his *sshole from the inside and pull the bear inside out.

That's all it takes - simple when you think about it, really. Who needs guns?

What are your questions?

- STORMBRINGER SENDS

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

A treaty being hammered out this month at the United Nations -- with Iran playing a key role -- could expose the records of America's gun owners to foreign governments -- and, critics warn, eventually put the Second Amendment on global trial.

International talks in New York are going on throughout July on the final wording of the so-called Arms Trade Treaty, which supporters such as Amnesty International USA say would rein in unregulated weapons that kill an estimated 1,500 people daily around the world. But critics, including the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre, warn the treaty would mark a major step toward the eventual erosion of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment gun-ownership rights.

Americans “just don’t want the UN to be acting as a global nanny with a global permission slip stating whether they can own a gun or not,” LaPierre said. “It cheapens our rights as American citizens, and weakens our sovereignty,” he warned in an exclusive interview with FoxNews.com

Our Second Amendment rights have been attacked for four long years. In four more, they could disappear entirely. This election year, the NRA is rallying gun owners to go ALL IN for the freedom. Are you ALL IN? www.FirearmsFuture.com

Individuals who are more into the plan of setting up an enjoyment center should first think of acquiring good entertainment furniture that is in the marketplace. This needs to be carried out with a lot of caution especially due to the several providers crowding the marketplace. This article seeks to clarify some of the hints which could be best used in shopping for these very key items.

The initial thing to do ahead of setting out to purchase the furniture must be the kind of entertainment center you desire starting up. Usually, furniture is sold depending on the kind of entertainment venture one desires to establish. In case it is a movie theater there are seats and items of this type which will assist you realizing your objective. Therefore, it is vital to know precisely what enjoyment venture you desire to start.

The other issue to be considered is the size of the room vis-a-vis that of the enjoyment furniture you want to buy. It is also important as this will help you eliminate the worries of having to buy something that will not fit very well into the room. Ensure that you take the correct measurements of the room and compare it with that of the items you want to purchase.

Another important factor to consider is the quality of the furniture you want to buy. It is obvious that there are those that are of inferior quality while others are of high quality. It is advisable to select the high quality, for you to get something that is worth the money you spend. Be very careful and inspect the wood quality used. Go for the type of wood you like most, but ensure it is the best.

Another very important factor to look into is the design of the room you are intending to use for the entertainment. This will assist you in determining the best type of furniture that will match the interior of the room. By doing this, you will make the room very attractive, complementing on the type of entertainment you are going to offer.

You should also consider getting the equipment from a provider that is well known for stocking quality and affordable materials. The provider should also be ready in giving advice on what type of equipment is ideal for your venture. Take note that some providers are only keen on siphoning money from their clients and are usually weary of giving considerable aid concerning the purchase.

Make sure that the items you are considering to purchase are within your budget. For you to get the best deals, conduct a research comparing the different providers and the items they have. For best results, you should go for the provider who has the best prices and has items that are of good quality.

In conclusion, entertainment furniture can be gotten without a hassle if you consider the above mentioned tips. Purchasing them without a well choreographed plan may sometimes prove hectic. Ensure that you have the best for your entertainment center since getting the best is as easy as following the aforementioned steps.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The Marine Corps Times recently published a handful of articles in regard to opening Infantry Officer Course (IOC) to females and the possibility of integrating women into the infantry community. In mid-April the Commandant directed the “integration” of the first wave of female officers into IOC this summer following completion of The Basic School (TBS). This action may or may not pave the way for female Marines to serve in the infantry as the results remain to be seen. However, before the Marine Corps moves forward with this concept, should we not ask the hard questions and gain opinions of combat-experienced Marines (male and female alike) as to the purpose, the impact, and the gains from such a move? As a combat-experienced Marine officer, and a female, I am here to tell you that we are not all created equal, and attempting to place females in the infantry will not improve the Marine Corps as the Nation’s force-in-readiness or improve our national security.

As a company grade 1302 combat engineer officer with 5 years of active service and two combat deployments, one to Iraq and the other to Afghanistan, I was able to participate in and lead numerous combat operations. In Iraq as the II MEF Director, Lioness Program, I served as a subject matter expert for II MEF, assisting regimental and battalion commanders on ways to integrate female Marines into combat operations. I primarily focused on expanding the mission of the Lioness Program from searching females to engaging local nationals and information gathering, broadening the ways females were being used in a wide variety of combat operations from census patrols to raids. In Afghanistan I deployed as a 1302 and led a combat engineer platoon in direct support of Regimental Combat Team 8, specifically operating out of the Upper Sangin Valley. My platoon operated for months at a time, constructing patrol bases (PBs) in support of 3d Battalion, 5th Marines; 1st Battalion, 5th Marines; 2d Reconnaissance Battalion; and 3d Battalion, 4th Marines. This combat experience, in particular, compelled me to raise concern over the direction and overall reasoning behind opening the 03XX field.

Who is driving this agenda? I am not personally hearing female Marines, enlisted or officer, pounding on the doors of Congress claiming that their inability to serve in the infantry violates their right to equality. Shockingly, this isn’t even a congressional agenda. This issue is being pushed by several groups, one of which is a small committee of civilians appointed by the Secretary of Defense called the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service (DACOWITS). Their mission is to advise the Department of Defense (DoD) on recommendations, as well as matters of policy, pertaining to the well-being of women in the Armed Services from recruiting to employment. Members are selected based on their prior military experience or experience with women’s workforce issues. I certainly applaud and appreciate DACOWITS’ mission; however, as it pertains to the issue of women in the infantry, it’s very surprising to see that none of the committee members are on active duty or have any recent combat or relevant operational experience relating to the issue they are attempting to change. I say this because, at the end of the day, it’s the active duty servicemember who will ultimately deal with the results of their initiatives, not those on the outside looking in. As of now, the Marine Corps hasn’t been directed to integrate, but perhaps the Corps is anticipating the inevitable—DoD pressuring the Corps to comply with DACOWITS’ agenda as the Army has already “rogered up” to full integration. Regardless of what the Army decides to do, it’s critical to emphasize that we are not the Army; our operational speed and tempo, along with our overall mission as the Nation’s amphibious force-in-readiness, are fundamentally different than that of our sister Service. By no means is this distinction intended as disrespectful to our incredible Army. My main point is simply to state that the Marine Corps and the Army are different; even if the Army ultimately does fully integrate all military occupational fields, that doesn’t mean the Corps should follow suit.

(Sorry about the Obama ad embedded in that video, folks; I don't drive the ads or their content. In this case CNN is the culprit ... that's OK if you're reading this blog then you already know this election isn't about who we elect it's about who we beat: "BHO HAS GOT TO GO!") - STORMBRINGER SENDS

Monday, July 9, 2012

Sean - I have an old school chum from my youth who grew up to become an Air Force General (Ret). My question to him is the some I raise with you. Would active US military obey what they might deem unconstitutional and likely dictatorial Executive Orders or would they stand down and refuse?

Regarding your question - it is one I have struggled with - I will answer with an anecdote;

I came back to the United States in September of 1992. The Rodney King riots had taken place about six months earlier; over in Okinawa we were VERY aware of how the Korean residents of Los Angeles had been targeted by the black mobs, and how they chose to defend their businesses and themselves with rifles and shotguns against raging mobs. I remember having lunch with a respected member of the SF Okinawa "mafia" - we had just concluded a (LEGAL) arms deal in the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant and burritos y cerveza were the logical next step. I remember sitting across from J.D. and saying, "What the hell HAPPENED to this place?" meaning of course the USA. He replied, "You see it too?"

Around the same time there was a lot of desparate talk of revolution & civil strife - Clinton had just been elected and HillaryCare and the assault rifle ban were on the table. I had to get my head straight about what I would ever say if armed interlopers came to my house and put me to the question, "Are you with us or against us?"

Of course, such a scenario never emerged - and the lesson is it will never emerge until people's families and livelihoods are directly threatened.

In the years following I moved up throught the military infrastructure and saw for myself the mindset of the colonels and generals who put into operation our national security policies. These men are thoroughly schooled in the Constitution - they are for the most part Conservatives but that does not matter - they are not radicals, they are not extremists, they are not revolutionaries. The US military prides itself on not being a banana republic operation. The men who own and operate the US military are not stupid and they are not lawyers, either. Any policy or guidance that comes down the pike regarding turning muzzles on civilians is going to be looked at long and hard with a jaundiced eye. Kent State was an anomaly not a pattern.

May 4th, 1970; a student protest at Kent State University against the Vietnam war. The Ohio National Guard were called in to control the protesters. At about 12:24 pm, Sgt. Myron Pryor began firing his pistol at the students. The other troops began firing their riffles. It is estimated that the shooting lasted about 13 seconds and that 67 rounds were fired. Four students were killed; ten others were wounded.

We have a system of checks and balances - one of the themes I was reminded of from day one in the Army is that the civilians are in charge. It was pointed out that the commanding officer could not tell us how to vote, what movies to watch, what newspapers to read - nothing. Bill of Rights protections were in full force, and we could not move amongst the civilian population and display our weapons. What it would take would be a total breakdown of the system of law, such as we saw in New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina.

Say what you want - that place had a total breakdown and there were looters - in this kind of circumstance you WANT the National Guard to show up with rifles. Yes it gets ugly right after that - for a historic reference look up what is referred to in the history books as RECONSTRUCTION.

A lot of the clips I've seen have been edited, but here's the original language video out of Afghanistan. The tribesman are seen handing a Kalashnikov to the man, who then takes two shots and misses, and then drills the women in the back of the head on the third. Her body whips back and she falls to the ground. The man keeps firing. I didn't count but some say he fired nine rounds in all, with at least 100 village men cheering him on . This is the dark ages of barbarity in our very own day and age, and the Obama administration has called the Taliban a "peace partner."

Sunday, July 8, 2012

. . . that guy on the porch with the shotgun is the spitting image of my mentor the Deacon of Doom . . .

US Army Special Forces has a strong connection with the country folk of the Appalachian region - I got a formal intro to what I call the Hillbilly Ethos way back when in the Q Course, where we do our graduating exercise Robin Sage amongst the people of the fictictious country of Pineland (which of course is barely in the foothills of Appalachia) and later still when I worked amongst the country people as a survival instructor at SERE . . . the CAG runs it's selection up in the hill country of West Virginia - I've been through that land, it is sheer vertical. There are hollers out there so steep the sun doesn't clear the ridgeline until ten in the morning and slips down below at four in the afternoon, and that's in the summertime.

Deacon educated me about the strong Appalachian culture - going a couple decades back here to my time in Okinawa. Deacon showed me film called Matewan which documents a little-known chapter of American labor history; the events of a coal mine-workers' strike and attempt to unionize in 1920 in a small town in the hills of West Virginia. The story of the Battle of Matewan is intense - regardless of your feelings about trade unions and what they've morphed into these days; to this day coal mining is all those people up in the hills have for hard cash and the union cause was all they had to fight total exploitation. How ironic it is a sycophant of the modern day unions who seeks to deny these people their source of income.

My colleague and friend Jack of Iraq a.k.a. the Atomic HillBilly comments; "There is actually a town named Appalachia in southwest Virginia, not too far from where I grew up. Interestingly enough, it is located in "Wise" County and their town motto is "Born From Coal Survives Through Spirit".

Deacon says, "I am familiar with this place, it is near the BSA camp by Moon Mountain . . ."

They are good people who live up in those hills; they have a code of hospitality, they will share with you what they've got and if you're apt to listen you will learn a lot from them - I have . . .

So you have a green thumb and a beautiful garden established and want to take it to the next level. A glass house would be an ideal addition to your garden allowing you so much more scope with your plant production. The glass house can be combined with a potting shed so you can produce lots of free plants. Your garden can grow and flourish as you produce lots of plants and keep them coming on out of season. If you design the glass house well it can enhance your garden and become an integral part of it.

Of course these days glass house does not necessary mean glass as in the traditional old style glass house. There are many suitable plastic sheet style coverings available these days so your green house building becomes relatively easy. These building techniques allow you to have a nice size green house so you can grow a large variety of plants as well as propagate those that need to have some shelter to get started. Combined with your potting shed you can produce lots of lovely plants ready to fill your garden in season.

Your green house will be handy for producing those vegetables that struggle out in the elements. Veggies like tomatoes love the glasshouse environment so you can grow all you can eat. Of course while you have the facility you will need to make room for some exotics like orchids that struggle to survive outside a controlled environment. You will soon find that no matter how large you build it is not going to be large enough. You will want to have a potting bench where you can strike cuttings into seedling trays and somewhere to plant seeds for your flowers and veggies. As the seeds strike and grow you will need room to pot some of them on into bigger pots until it is time to plant them out in the garden.

You can see that your glass house will never be big enough and you will always find plenty to do in there. Because in your glasshouse you are changing the climate so you can garden out of season which means you will have gardening to do all year long. If you love getting your fingers in the soil a greenhouse is a must. Check out some glasshouse plans and patterns now and select the style for you. Get building and you will catch the next planting season.